Chapter Three
Owen
Most of my friends in the 94thID at Fort Lee probably would’ve pegged me as a fairly chill guy, someone who never let shit get to me. Most of the time, they would’ve been right. I learned early in my days at the academy that if I obsessed and stressed over every little thing, I’d make myself nuts or give myself an ulcer. I’d decided to do the best I could and trust that everything else would work out as it was meant to be.
But that night after Max and Samantha’s post-wedding get-together, I was jittery. I sat in my room in the barracks, my phone on the desk in front of me, waiting for Jacey’s call and dreading what she might say.
I hadn’t planned to like this girl so much. I hadn’t expected the click that I’d felt with her at the wedding and then again today at Max’s house. But when I’d heard Jake greet her by name—by the name Kade used for his sister, not her given legal name—my stomach had rolled over, and all I could think was ...shit.
Getting mad at her and ranting like a lunatic had been knee-jerk defensive action born out of the fact that I’d already known I couldn’t let this chick go ... not without finding out if there was something here, something deeper. The physical connection was undeniable, and from our conversation in the dark outside the reception tent, I knew I actually liked her, too. I wanted to know her better. I wanted to see those pretty brown eyes light up, and I wanted to hear that contagious laugh again.
That was why, when I’d seen her tear up and begin to pull away today, all of my resolve and good intentions had melted like ice cream in the sunlight. Kissing her again might not have been one of my better ideas, but it had solidified my hunch that we could be amazing together ... that this beautiful woman, who was as sassy as she was sexy, might be the one who’d send me tumbling head over heels, just like the rest of my friends.
Jake’s advice, while it hadn’t been what I wanted to hear, was actually pretty much spot-on. He was wise enough to know that keeping something like this from Kade would eat me up. I suspected that ultimately, trying to stay on the down-low for too long would’ve bothered Jacey, too. I’d heard Kade talk about his sister, and it was always with affection. They were definitely close.
Now that I knew who Jacey really was, I tried to divert my mind from worrying over her talk with her brother by remembering what he’d said about her in the past. I knew that the two had grown up in a beach town in southern California. Kade often spoke about surfing even before he could walk, and I wondered if Jacey loved to catch waves, too.
Their father had died suddenly when Kade was in college, which was what had led him into ROTC and ultimately, to his career in the Army. Jacey would have been in high school then, I thought. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. I wondered if losing her dad at that young age had contributed to her perception of herself as flighty and immature. From even the little I’d seen of her, she couldn’t have been more wrong.
My phone began to buzz, jolting me out of my preoccupation. I snatched it up and answered, my voice tense even to my own ears.
“Do I need to lace up my running shoes?”
Jacey’s low answering laugh eased some of my tension. “No, I don’t think so. Um ... Kade’s on his way over to talk to you. But he’s not mad. At least, he didn’t seem like he was once Leah and I got finished talking with him.”
My chest went tight. Kade was an upright, honest guy, but I didn’t have a single doubt that he could’ve disguised his rage from his sister and his wife if he’d wanted to convince them that he wasn’t coming at me loaded for bear.
“What happened, exactly?”
Jacey sighed. “On the way home, I told Leah that we’d met last night, that you’d had no idea who I was, but that we’d liked each other, and that when we’d met again today, we felt the same way, even after you found out who I was.”
“How’d she take that?” I didn’t know Kade’s wife extremely well, but she seemed reasonable.
“She thought it was very romantic.” Jacey’s tone was dry. “She said you’re one of the best guys around, and that she’d always thought you needed to meet the right girl. And then she told me that I had to tell my brother, no ifs, ands or buts, because there was no way in hell she was keeping a secret from him.”
“But she was on your side when you talked to him?” I had to think that Leah’s support could only have helped Jacey’s cause.
“She was. Kade was home by the time we got there. Leah and my mom were giving Emma a bath, and I told my brother that I needed to let him know something. I said that I wasn’t asking his permission, just respecting his role as my brother, especially since I’m living in his house right now. By the time I got around to actually telling him, I think he was half-afraid that I was building up to something truly awful.”
“How did he react?” As I asked the question, I stood up and stalked over to my window, which looked out over the parking lot. No sign of Kade yet ... unless he’d parked over at the building where we worked and walked over.
“I made sure I didn’t make more of this than it is. I kept everything simple: I said I’d followed you at the wedding, that you hadn’t had any idea that I was his sister, and that we’d, um, hit it off. I also said that when we’d run into each other again today and I’d admitted to you who I really was, you’d insisted that I tell him everything before we took things any further.”
Hearing that Jacey had made me look like an honorable, responsible man in front of her brother only made me like her more. “How did he react?”
“Well ...” She hedged a little. “At first, he wasn’t exactly thrilled. He went on for a little bit about bro codes and you knowing better, and—” She deepened her voice to imitate Kade. “‘Out of all the chicks in the world, he had to decide to get handsy with my little sister?’” Jacey giggled. “I asked him what getting handsy meant, precisely, because we hadn’t done anything but kissing and heavy making out ... yet.”
“You didn’t.” I massaged my forehead. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“I did. I was being honest, right? I did tell him that most of the heavier making out happened last night, before you had the whole story. That made him feel a little better, even though he did yell at me. It was at that point that both my mom and Leah came in to tell him to keep it down, because they’d gotten the baby to sleep. Mom told Kade to leave me be. She said that I had a steady head on my shoulders, and that she was sure I wasn’t going to jump into anything recklessly.” She paused for a beat. “Which made me feel good. I’d kind of expected her to take Kade’s side. But she didn’t, and then Leah told Kade that he was making a mountain out of a molehill. She reminded him about how much he likes you, and she pointed out that he’d hated all of the guys I’d dated in California. He listened to her, and he calmed down fast. He said you were the best company commander in the battalion, and I couldn’t do any better than to get involved with someone like you.”
All of that was encouraging. “So why is he coming over here?”
“Ah, I think he just wants to make sure you’re on the same page. I don’t know. He muttered something about me getting in the way of his friendships and that chicks complicate everything, and then he hugged me, said he loved me and assured me that he only wanted to talk with you.” I heard her take in a deep breath. “And he made me promise that I wouldn’t break your heart.”
A smile spread over my face. “What did you say?”
Jacey lowered her voice, murmuring softly into the phone. “I said that if things worked out between us and if I had the chance to hold your heart, breaking it would be the last thing I’d want to do.”
